Hillary Waugh (1920–2008)

THE SHADOW GUEST is a fantastic mystery/suspense novel from the vintage Gothic fiction genre. An American couple, Howard and Angela, move to a cottage on the coast of England after her breakdown.

Howard is hesitant to be so secluded with their medical issues, but some strange force compels Angela to stay at Heather Cottage. Even with unexplained happenings at night – frightening noises, shadowy figures, and bizarre dreams – Angela refuses to leave. Is there something supernatural afoot? show more Or does someone want them gone?

I enjoyed this creepy book very much. The author created the perfect atmosphere of sinister suspense. Best of all I had absolutely no clue what the ending would bring. So twisted. My copy of THE SHADOW GUEST was published by Dell in July 1972. show less

The good and the bad. Just finished Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh. One of the first police procedurals. Well written, good plot, very realistic. A solid four stars. So what's the bad part? This was an edition by Poisoned Pen Pres and part of the Library of Congress Crime Classics Series. The series "reproduces the original text, reproduced faithfully from an early edition in the Library's collections and complete with strange spellings and unorthodox punctuation. Also included are a show more contextual introduction, a brief biography of the author, notes and recommendations for further reading...."

It's the faithfully reproduced part that gives me grief, because of the notes. The original text did not include asterisks and footnotes explaining any and every reference to things that younger readers might not be aware of, even word definitions. Example: first chapter begins with the date - Friday, March 3, 1950* The footnote explains who the President of the US was at the time, that the Korean War would start in three months, that President Truman had sent 'advisors' to Vietnam, that women had returned to the homemaker role following WWII, the cost of an average home (whatever average was because it's not spelled out), the median average income, the cost of a television set and that the first credit cards were issued. That's all interesting stuff and appropriate as they state their purpose is "to start conversations, inspire further research and bring obscure works to a new generation of readers." There's even as asterisk and footnote following the word Kleenex, informing us that Kleenex was trademarked in 1924. I guess that's for the person who questions if Kleenex was around in 1950.

But for the person who wishes to read an early classic and enjoy the plot, the atmosphere, and the writing, all this is very distracting. My reading eye was frequently diverted once or twice per page and twice as often as four times on one page. Writing advice keeps saying, "don't divert the reader." So I have decided this series is for people who want to make a study of the history mystery genre and its classics, it is not for the person who wants to enjoy a mystery by one of the best.

From now on, I will remember to pass editions in this series by and search for old editions with tired and worn covers. show less

When an eighteen year-old college student disappears after morning classes, her friends check all the logical places like the infirmary, hospitals, without finding any sign of her. She has just disappeared. What follows is a detailed account of the police investigation, said to be the first police procedural novel.

Waugh's book was published back in 1952 when attitudes generally were different from today. For example, the police interrogated a young woman who had done absolutely nothing show more wrong, apart from not being able to give the information they wanted about a suspect. Their opinions of women were abysmal, although to some degree, accurate. I disliked all of the detectives who had zero sympathy for the missing girl or her father (who was also unlikeable). None of the female characters were developed: wives who serve cocktails and go back to their kitchens, the mother with barely a line. Acceptable only because it's expected of the era. If the reader can overlook the dated style they will find it to be a gripping suspense novel, hard to put down. show less

Warning: this review contains spoilers

****

This ended up being a much more exciting book than I thought it would be. It did help that I read it on a long train ride and therefore had more uninterrupted reading time. The writing style, as befits a mystery written in the early 1950s, is more elaborate than modern crime fiction and requires more time to get stuck in. Unfortunately the time period also means that there are some problematic elements in the story: namely the fact that the cops' show more first thought when Lowell goes missing is that she was pregnant and went off to have an illegal abortion, and had been killed during the operation. This assumption persisted despite denials from her family and friends, and I was disappointed that the assumption ended up being proven true. Nevertheless, by that point, the story had hooked me, and then I had to find out who had killed her and how the police were going to catch the person. The ending was also excellent -- I love that it ended right when they were preparing to arrest the guy, after having laid out the whole scenario that implicated him in the murder. It sounded plausible. Was it true? We'll never know. Great technique.

I would recommend this for people who like to read classic crime novels and are familiar with the writing style of the Golden Age. show less